Poisonous
by emrys-knight
Summary: Martin Riggs is a broken man. People around him either get hurt or worse. He's starting to wonder if maybe he's the problem.
1. Chapter 1

"The city of Los Angeles runs cold today." Priest Abernathy says. "The sunshine…is shining gray." He presses the Bible to his chest and lowers his head. The funeral attendants do the same. After a moment of silence; a younger priest, Father Dane, walks to stand next to his mentor.

"The ceremony is concluded. We will leave you to mourn in peace. God rest her soul." Father Dane says. The two walk across the graveyard and out of sight.

"She didn't deserve this." Roger said. He looked up to Martin, who was more silent than usual.

"She got too close, Rog." Riggs said, looking down to the barely green grass.

"Close to what?" Trish grabbed Martin's arm and bent her knees a little bit to meet his eyes. He lifted his head and she adjusted herself.

"I don't know." Riggs barely got those words out. His voice was low and broken. Trish held back tears as she hugged him. He rested his chin on her left scapula. When the two separated, she, again, made it a point to look him straight in the eye.

"You'll get that son of a bitch, Martin." She looked angry but hopeful. He could read every emotion on her face. He felt a slight peace come over him. It wasn't a lot but it was enough for the moment. He started to walk away, towards his truck. Trish touched Roger's arm while she walked towards their car.

"This won't be for nothing, Karen." Roger said, looking at the picture on the stand. He dropped the rose that was in his hand into the grave hole. He then took the same path his wife had, moments before.

 *****(Location: The Station)(Monday)**

"Do you think he should take this one off?" Avery asked Roger, who was sitting one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"I say yes. But do you **really** think that he'd do it?" He asked, with a slight laugh. The captain leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk.

"He **should** be off of this case. But…since he's not going to… keep an eye on him." Avery got up and walked to the window. Roger was going to follow, but the door opened.

"If you ladies are done gossiping about me, there's been a murder, downtown." Riggs said. He let the large glass door swing behind him. Without another word, Roger was out of the door, following behind his partner. Avery half-looked over his shoulder and gave a slight sigh.

 *****(Location: Century Plaza Hotel)**

"Scorsese. What do we got?" Martin asked. He looked at the bloody body, hanging over the chair. The corpse was shirtless. There were black suit pants on him with navy blue socks and black dress shoes.

"Uh…" Scorsese barely replied. He looked to Roger before he looked back to Riggs.

"Just **tell** me." Martin pushed. Murtaugh silently nodded in agreement.

"His throat was slit. The-the uh… same way as…" He paused and looked to the corpse. "I think it's the same killer that got Agent Palmer." Riggs crossed his arms and left the room. Roger followed.

"Her partner's dead in there, Rog. **She's** dead. What did they find?" Martin messed with his hair and adjusted his stance, looking down the hotel halls.

"We'll find out. Avery said it's our case now." Roger said.

"Alright." Scorsese said, walking over to the boys. "There's a partial print on the knife used, but it might just be the victim's. I can't know until I run it, back at my lab."

"Okay, then. Let's get you back so you can do that." Roger insisted. He pointed to the knife in the evidence bag. He looked to Riggs. "You okay?" Scorsese left the two to talk.

"Not the time, Rog." Martin turned around and started down the hall. Scorsese lifted an eyebrow and began writing in the file he was holding.

 *****(Location: Roger's car)(5 minutes later)**

"Do you want me to drop you straight off at the station or do you want to go home, first?" Roger asked Martin.

"Whichever." He replied, quietly. His tone indicated that he didn't feel like talking. He looked out of the window; seeing the sprinkling rain roll down the glass. He watched the water bounce off of the pavement. His eyes traced the sidewalk and up a few buildings. He was drowning himself in thought and Roger knew it. He wanted to help so bad, but he didn't know how.

"The station." He said, quietly. He knew Riggs had an appointment with Maureen in an hour and that'd be the best place for him to be. Not alone in a gun-filled RV parked in a secluded area of a beach. He shouldn't be alone, right now. Roger thought.

 *****(Location: Cahill's Office)(1 hour later)(There was traffic. It's LA. What can you do?)**

Darkness fills the room. The lights may be on but that does nothing to diminish the emotional dark that is present. Maureen looks to Riggs. He's laid back in the couch, looking at the floor with his head tilted slightly to the left. He's even more quiet than he normally is. Not even a sarcastic remark. To her, it's haunting.

"Do…" She began and paused right after.

"Go ahead." He said, exhaling.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on in your head right now?" She leaned forward in her chair and put her elbows on her knees, folding the folder in her hands.

"I don't know." His voice is quiet. Breathy. He adjusted the position of his legs a little bit.

"That's kind of a start."

"Am I poisonous?" He asked, out of the blue. She slightly jerked her head back in surprise.

" **Why** would you think **that**?" She leaned back in her chair.

"Miranda. Karen."

"Riggs…" She was interrupted by his standing up.

"I need to go." He started to walk out of the door, quickly. She grabbed his arm and stood up, herself. He turned around, tears in his eyes. He yanked his arm out from her tight grip. "Stay away from me, doc. You'll just end up like them." He left the room. Cahill stood, catatonic. The darkness had grown and engulfed the doctor. Martin Riggs is truly a broken man.


	2. Chapter 2

*****(Location: Martin Riggs's Airstream) (2 weeks before Chapter 1 began)**

It's morning. The sun is violently breaking through the blinds in the windows. Martin sleeps, shirtless with his jeans and boots on. He hears a hissing, liquid-streaming sound and there's a smell. Trish helped him freshen the place up a day or two ago, so he knew the smell didn't belong. He finally convinced himself to cut off the dream and open his eyes. Right as he did, he caught the sight of Wolf lowering his leg to stand in a puddle of his dog urine.

"Come on, man!" Riggs complained to the mutt. Before he got up, he heard his phone ring. Sitting up, he reached out and grabbed the cell. The caller ID read "Palmer".

"Riggs! I found it! I know what happened to…" She's cut off.

She lost the signal. She lost the signal, that's it. He thought. He was trying to stay cautiously optimistic. He calls her back and she answers.

"Riggs! Ah!" She was screaming. A large chill went down his spine. He shot up, grabbed his gun and shoved it into the back of his pants. He snatched his badge off of the coffee table and clipped it to the hip of his pant. He shoved his phone into his back pocket and burst out of the door after grabbing his keys. He sped through every red light and disregarded every stop sign. When he got five minutes from the station, he saw heavy traffic. When he got up to it, he swerved onto the wide sidewalk. He rolled down his window.

"Move!" He's yelling. He's repeatedly honking his horn. Bystanders nearly jumped into oncoming traffic to avoid his stampeding pickup.

When he finally reached the station, he jumped out of his truck and ran towards the elevator.

 *****(Location: The Bullpen)**

"Roger!" Martin's yelling. "Roger Mayfield Murtaugh!" He's running between the cubicles, looking at Roger in the captain's office.

"Riggs? Where's your shirt?" Roger asked, stepping out of the office. Captain Avery passes Murtaugh.

"See?" Bailey asked, walking by. "I told you it'd happen some day."

"Agent Palmer's in trouble!" He's screaming at the top of his lungs. The officer's are all staring. The captain tells them all to give them the room and within seconds, it's empty except for Martin, Roger and Avery.

"What happened, Riggs?" The captain asked.

"She called me, and she told me that she found something and then she screamed and she got cut off!" He's getting more and more worked up.

"What did she find?" Roger asked….

 *****(Location: Riggs's Airstream) (Present day: Right after Chapter 1 ended)**

"I'm sorry." Martin says, crying. He's rapidly shaking. "I'm so sorry." He mumbles on and grabs his revolver. He slides down the front of the cabinet to sit on the floor. He lifts the gun to his right temple. "I'm so sorry." He's shaking and sobbing.

"Knock knock!" Roger says, sickeningly cheerfully. It takes a minute for Martin to decide it's worth answering.

"Go away! I'm sick!" He says, voice shaking. Roger heard the faulty tone and swings the door open to see his broken partner. He was in a torn shirt, ripped jeans and shoeless. Oh, Riggs. Roger thought. Martin hadn't lowered the gun. "Get out, Rog!" Murtaugh put his hands out towards Riggs.

"Hey. Hey, put the gun down." He begged.

"You should go, Rog." Martin insisted. "Just go." He adjusted the position of the firearm. Roger took the opportunity and leaped forward to grab the gun out of his hand. He was successful. Martin reached out to grab the gun but Roger threw it onto the futon.

"Uh uh. No. Riggs, what the **Hell** were you thinking?!"

"Just go, Rog. I gotta..."

"No, don't…" Roger made it a point to interrupt him.

"Just..."

"Shut up, Martin." Riggs's eyes widened. Roger helped his partner up and led him to the futon. He grabbed the gun and set it onto the counter as far away from his partner as he could. "Do you **know** what would happen to Trish if you did that?! Not to mention the kids! It would **destroy** them!" Riggs gives Roger the biggest puppy eyes conceivable.

"I kill everything I touch, Rog."

"Right." Roger nodded. Martin's eyes widened. "That woman you saved a little while after we first started working together is dead, right? That kid is dead, isn't he? The women and children overseas that you saved in those villages from the terrorists in your deployments are dead, too? My old mentor?" Riggs "fixed" his hair.

"Rog…"

"Unless the next thing you're gonna tell me is that you want to get up and change so we can go work on that case, don't say anything." Roger crossed his arms.

"Yeah." That's all that Martin said. He stood up. Roger flinched, putting his hand on the gun. "I'm not gonna." He reached into his clothes drawers and grabbed a new shirt and pants. "You mind? We're not **that** close."

"I'll turn around but I'm not leaving you alone in here. God only knows where you're hiding weapons around here." Roger stands in front of the door, facing it. Riggs decides it's not worth arguing and he puts the clothes on. "I came here to tell you we found out what Karen found before…"

"You did? It had to be important or she wouldn't have called me, first!" Martin said. "What'd she find that got **her** and her **partner** killed?"


	3. Chapter 3

*****(Location: Martin's RV)(Seconds after Chapter 2 ended)**

"Palmer was looking into your wife's death." Roger said.

"What? Why would she do that?"

"She saw links between **it** and Eddie Flores's family's less-than-legal drug business."

"Yeah?" Martin adjusted his stance, crossing his arms.

"They had Miranda killed, Riggs. You got too close to dismantling them." Roger leaned up against the door. Martin paced the room for a moment.

"I killed her."

"What?" Roger stood straight up. "Who?"

"Miranda!" He got frustrated. "Karen, too, I guess." He looked at Roger with tears in his eyes. "They got close to me and now they're dead."

"Riggs, stop." Martin started to pace even quicker.

"No. I-I can't, Rog." Riggs grabbed his gun, badge and keys and pushed Roger out of his way. The two exited the RV.

"Where are you going?" Roger walked towards Riggs before he motioned him off.

"The Den."

"We're gonna confront the Flores family in the bar that only **they** go to? We'll be dead in seconds!"

"Right. But you're not going." Martin turned around and started walking to his truck.

"No, Riggs. You're not going alone." Roger quickly began to follow before Martin pulled his gun out and pointed it at him. "Woah. Now that'd be counterproductive. Shoot me to keep me from getting shot?"

"The leg won't kill you." Martin said in a monotone voice.

"Touche."

"I'm sorry, Rog." Riggs got into his truck, cranked the engine and sped off, while the sand under his tires sprayed out into the air.

 *****(Location: Roger's Car)(Speeding down the highway)**

"Avery! Riggs is about to do something monumentally stupid!" Roger is screaming into the phone.

"That's not exactly breaking news, Murtaugh." The Captain said. "But… what's he about to do?"

"He's about to storm into The Den, guns blazing!" He screamed.

"Get over there now! I'm sending backup! Everyone!" Avery yelled, hanging up. Roger pushed even harder on the gas pedal. He redials his phone for Martin, pressing "Psycho" on his contacts list.

"I'm sorry, Rog. I can't stop." Martin says. He hangs up before Roger can get a word out.

 *****(Location: The Den)(5 minutes later)**

"Flores! Get your ugly ass out here!" Martin screams, standing in the parking lot. The criminal slides out of the booth and stands up.

"I'll deal with this, myself." He says, waving off his men. He grabs his pistol off of the table. Walking outside, he laughs when he sees Riggs. "Martin Riggs! How are you, detective?"

"Bad, thank you for asking. I think it'd be cathartic if I killed you, though. I just might feel better." Martin answered. The two walked in a circle, like lions about to fight for their prides.

"And why would you want that, detective?"

"You had Miranda and Agent Palmer killed, but you already know that."

"Yes I do; and I can do the same to you. I've got men inside ready to ventilate you."

"I bet the bullets in my gun are faster than your men. You'd be dead before they could get to the door."

The two draw their guns. Flores's hands were steady. His mind was only on one thing. Surviving this ordeal. Or maybe not. Maybe he would do more damage to the detective if he let him kill him. Martin, on the other hand, had his hands slightly shaking. His mind was full of thoughts. The day he went to the hospital and saw that doctor pulling the sheet over his dead love and unborn child. Seeing Karen's dead body, the way it was. Her funeral. It was time for this bastard to die.

"Riggs!" Roger screams, getting out of his car. He runs over to where the standoff is taking place. In a few seconds, the parking lot is **surrounded** by cop cars and the officers that drive them.

"Detective, Flores, put your **guns down**!" An officer yelled through a bullhorn.

"I've **got** this!" Roger yelled back. "Stand down!"

"Go away, Rog." Martin said in an annoyed yet concerned voice.

"Riggs, this isn't the right choice. You can't come back from this." Roger slowly went and grabbed Flores's gun. He freely gave it up hoping he'd ruin the detective.

"Shoot me, Riggs. My men will see you in prison." He says.

"I suggest you keep your mouth shut." Roger said. He looked back to Martin. "Give me the gun." He started to step forwards towards his partner.

"I'm poisonous, Rog." He stepped back. "When Miranda died, I thought I'd never be happy. I finally thought I proved myself wrong. I was with Palmer. Now she's dead, too." Tears begin to stream down his face but he quickly wipes them away and blinks away the lingering ones in his eyes.

"You're not poisonous, Riggs. You're not." Roger insists. He's got his hands stretched out facing his partner. Hell, his **brother**! He's got tears forming but he holds them back. He wants to stay one hundred percent focused and involved.

"Everyone's said it. I'm **crazy**. Poison and crazy. Not a good combination, is it Rog?" He has the puppy eye thing going on and it practically paralyzes Roger. Those dead, nearly soulless brown eyes.

"You're not crazy and you're not poisonous. You're my **brother**." Roger said.

"Go ahead. **Shoot** me, detective." Flores said.

"Shut up." The boys said at the same time.

"Roger I'm sorry. But he killed Miranda. He killed Palmer. They're dead because of **him**!" Riggs screams. He jerks the gun towards Flores. The criminal and Roger both flinch. Roger sighs in disappointment and heartache. He took his gun out of the holster and points it at Martin.

"Rog? Wh-wha-what are you doing?" Riggs asks, in shock.

"You need to put the gun down, partner." Roger was starting to get even more anxious. Nothing happens. " **Put** … the **gun** … **down**." He adjusted his grip on his firearm. Riggs looked to Roger and slowly lowered his weapon. Roger sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry, Rog." Martin said, quickly lifting his gun towards Flores.

 ***BOOM***

"I'm sorry, too." Roger said. Martin looks to Murtaugh and down to his abdomen. He fell to the ground, dropping his gun at his side. He grabbed at his bullet wound, shirt covered in blood. He's still focused on Flores. He squirms, reaching for his weapon but Roger picks it up, just in time.

"Rog. Don't." He says. His voice is breathy. He's breathing heavily and squeezes his eyes shut. He cries out in great pain when the paramedics lift him onto the gurney. It's soft, compared to the concrete. It almost feels good. The oxygen mask is heavily welcomed. When the paramedic puts the cloth and temporary bandages on the wound, he bucks and kicks his left leg. He groans in pain. The paramedics babble on and he begins losing consciousness. "I'm sorry, Rog." Is the last thing he says before his eyes close and he falls into the abyss of drug induced sleep. Roger heard it. He quickly made his way to his car and began crying. He slammed his hand against the steering wheel. He screams indecipherable words. Seeing his brother in pain like that physical and emotional was too much to bear.

 *****(Location: LA's Acadia Hospital)(The next morning)**

Martin's eyes slowly open. They're heavy. He's a little dizzy at first but gets his bearings, a little bit. He tries to sit up but is met by a horrible pain that practically shoves him back into the bed. He lets out a strong whimper. He feels the leeds tug on his bare chest.

"Hey. Hey. Calm down, Martin." Trish said. She was sitting in the chair next to him. She stood up, walked over to the bed and sat on it on his left side.

"Trish." He tried to sit up, again and was successful, as he trudged through the pain for a moment. He noticed a cold feeling on his wrist and looked down. Right below his IV needle was a pair of handcuffs chaining him to the bed. "What? What is this?"

"Roger told them to do it. You're just a little bit of a flight risk." She answered him. She laughs a little bit. He does, too but quickly stops when he feels the pain again. Roger walked in.

"Well he's right." Martin said, looking at him. "Rog, I'm…"

"Sorry? Don't be. If that happened to Trish, or one of the kids… Plus, I shot you. We're even. Just don't do that, again." Roger interrupted.

"I'll leave you two to talk." Trish said. She gave Riggs a kiss on the forehead and walked around the bed to her husband. "I'll be in the car." She whispers in his ear. When she's out of the room, Roger walks away from the doorway.

"They pressing charges?" Martin asked.

"Nah. They found evidence at The Den against the entire Flores cartel, thanks to you. The captain said it probably wouldn't be good for the media to get ahold of the story that a hero cop lost his job. I agreed." Roger said, suggestively. "And there's the little part of him having a gun, too. Delgado said he considers that self-defense. To top all of that off, there's witnesses that could testify in your favor if they decided to make a case out of this."

"Then can you take off these handcuffs?" Martin lifted his wrist and the cuffs rattled.

"Nope. It's like Trish said. You're too much of a flight risk. You'll try to leave before you're all better." Roger turned around, laughing a little bit.

"Rog." Martin playfully pleaded, at first.

"RJ and Rihanna are gonna stop by, later, to see you. Trish'll be with 'em with clothes." Roger begins walking off.

"Rog!"

"Cahill's coming by, too, so you don't miss your appointment. She's considerate like that." He's almost out of the door.

"Roger, come on!"

"Sleep tight, Riggs. Don't let the hospital bed bugs bite!" Roger is out of the door and walking down the hall.

"Roger Mayfield Murtaugh!" Martin jiggles the cuffs and sits back in the bed, grabbing at his bandaged wound. "I gotta pee."


End file.
